Chapter fifty: The Breakdown
"Then Ryder showed me the foundation for the Lookout." Katie explained, to round the story out. "And after that I would sometimes drop by to check in.. And we would sometimes work together on some things and then go for a break at Mr. Porter's."
"Nice. That's cool that you met Ryder when he was just starting The Lookout! I wonder where he got the materials though? The Lookout is big!" Snowflake commented, as Chase was rocking back and forth while laying on his back.
"He probably was given it." Chase guessed loosely, continuing to roll back and forth like he wasn't fully paying attention at all.
"True. Ummm? Something wrong, Chase? Did your legs fall asleep?" Snowflake replied, turning to the German Shepherd.
"No.." Chase replied, slowing for a second but continuing nonetheless. "Why?"
"You're rocking back and forth." the husky pup pointed out.
"Yeah.." the German Shepherd responded lightly, continuing still. "So?"
"I've just.. never seen you do that before," Snowflake replied.
"I think he's trying to do something." Katie mentioned, when kneeling down closer to Snowflake and watching Chase intently.
"Like what?" the husky asked Katie. And the girl just stood up while maintaining her gaze on the occupied pup.
"Chase, you ready to go to bed now?" Katie asked.
"Aww, right now?" Chase sighed, finally stopping his rolling to lay on his left side. And with his head twisted around to lay flat on the ground so he could look at them.
"Well, Katie did tell us a nighttime story," Snowflake reasoned. "Plus we did all those activities. You must be tired by now. Even just a little."
"What? No, I'm wide awake." Chase insisted, sitting up straight in a moment.
"Are you sure? You can't pull an all-nighter! We don't have THAT much energy!" Snowflake said.
"I've done one before.." Chase protested flatly, almost sounding indignant. Then laying back down to roll some more, he found himself on a second wind that allowed him to roll more rigorously than before.
Snowflake looked at Chase in confusion.
"So, why are you rolling around?" she asked.
"Umm… the fun of it?" Chase replied, still acting a bit distracted.
"I think I might know something that'll help." Katie said finally, as the lights dimmed. And with only having her subtle shadow to follow, he didn't quite catch her meaning till it happened. A hand with a rougher touch than before stopped him dead with the rubbing motion up and down his exposed chest. And because of how unexpected it was, it caught him off guard to the point of keeping him frozen.
Katie smiled as she kept the rubber brush going in the same rubbing motion which seemed to be all they needed for the moment. And she even lengthened her brushing range a bit. However in an attempt to fight it, Chase's paw came up over her wrist. But then he stopped again as though forgetting what he was doing. His eyes had barely started to sag when he jerked himself awake.
"No.. I'm.. not ready to go to sleep yet.." he fumbled, trying to roll off his back to make her stop. But she was able to keep him there by moving the brushing motion over him in a way to lay him back again.
"Ooooh. Looks relaxing. May I give it a try?" Snowflake said, before lying on her back too.
'Yes! Something that will work!' she thought.
"In a minute, Snowflake." Katie chuckled, glancing at her briefly, then returning her focus to Chase. The German Shepherd by now, was losing the battle of keeping his eyes open, but they still weren't fully closed. And as they would get close to success he would try to jerk himself awake, and then the cycle would start over again.
"Okay," Snowflake said, as she watched Chase falling asleep, and waking up.
'Come on Chase, please fall asleep!' she begged mentally.
Chase finally rolled over and Katie kept the brushing motion going on his left shoulder. And even though he attempted to get up a couple of times, she kept on going till he wasn't fighting it anymore.
"Is he actually asleep now?" Snowflake whispered.
Katie had slowed her brushing, so that she could lean forward to view his face.
"I'd say so.." the girl confirmed, sitting back and finally able to stop the brushing. "Now we can get ready to go to sleep ourselves."
Snowflake nodded before crawling under the blue sleeping bag and taking in deep breaths, ready to go to sleep.
Katie set a soft blanket over Chase and shifted back as if to admire her work.
"I wonder why he was fighting it so hard?.." She wondered aloud, holding herself in a composed kneel to look at him from a distance.
Snowflake gave no reply as she was starting to fall asleep.
"Ok,.. well,.. goodnight, Snowflake." Katie shrugged, patting the husky on the head on her way by. Then opening the door far beyond their slumber party setup, Cali slipped out and retreated gratefully to the back room down the hall. And when she closed the door again, she headed back over to turn the lights all the way out and approach the pillows again. Then sliding into her own sleeping bag, she snuggled down herself and let herself drift off to sleep.
XXXX
"Home at last!" Marshall sighed, as they finally made their way up to the Lookout again.
"Feels like we've been gone for hours." Rocky mentioned, as they gathered together in front of the path entrance to the doors.
"'Gone for hours'? Is that true? What time is it?" Ned asked, slightly nervous. He wanted to see more of the pup's gear.
"You've only been gone a little over an hour." Ryder said, appearing suddenly from the doors of the Lookout. "And it'll be time to eat dinner soon so don't wander too far ok?"
"We won't." Skye assured him. "We just wanna show Ned some more of our gear."
"Ok.." Ryder complied, as he began to wander away again. "Have fun pups. I'll call you when it's time to eat."
"Let's go show him our flight gear." Rubble suggested.
"Yes! Please!" Ned exclaimed, quickly becoming excited as he stood in a playful pose; his tail wagging.
"Ok wait right here." Skye said. Then nodded to Rubble and Rocky before leading the two pups into the Lookout.
Then Ned felt the presence of another pup appear at his side.
"Watch this." Marshall told him, when he looked at the Dalmatian. They stared at the door for a moment as if to expect something to come back through them. But when noises occurred elsewhere, the PAW Patrol pups looked confidently toward the rising form of the Air Patroller coming up from the underground hangar. Ned looked confused, but when the pups started heading towards it he soon followed out of the strong curiosity that arose from this site.
As they approached, the back end ramp lowered with the three pups standing at the top in full gear.
"Welcome aboard the Air Pup Patrol." Skye announced grandly.
"You pups do rescues in this plane? How? Free fall to an island?" Ned asked, half guessing.
"Nope.. that's why we have these flight packs.. so we can fly to wherever we need to be." Skye replied proudly, looking back on her pup pack. Barking them out, her super sonic jets retracted out, and she displayed them happily.
"And the rest of you pups?" Ned continued looking at the others.
"We all have a flight pack." Rocky shrugged. "Ryder made each of us one that works great. They help us make all sorts of cool rescues."
"He even made one for Everest so she could help us with tough snow rescues." Rubble added.
"Really? Wait, are any of you afraid of heights or flying? I'd imagine one of you must have been nervous with the equipment. And do all of you have metal wings on your pup packs?" Ned replied, surprised.
"Well for one.. yes.. some of us were a little nervous about the flying thing at first.." Marshall confirmed. "But as for the pup packs.. no.. Rubble?"
"I can dig it!" The Bulldog responded, clearly reading his mind, then disappeared. And it was only one moment before..
Whoosh!
Surfing on a board that never touched the ground, he hovered and doubled back to fly over and around Ned once.
"Woah! That's different!" Ned gasped in shock.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool the kind of stuff Ryder comes up with for us." Rocky agreed as Rubble hopped off his board for a moment, and set a paw on it for security.
"Is this all the flying stuff you pups have? What are some rescues you've done while flying around?" Ned wondered kindly.
"Well Chase has a hang glider for his flight pack." Skye mentioned. "And Marshall has a cool set of wings that have water jets for putting out fires and cooling hot stuff."
"My wings double as scuba gear." Zuma put in. "They are way cool, dude!"
"I can hover in mid air so I can fix things.. on-the-fly." Rocky joked, smirking happily.
"Okay. Is this all the flying gear you have? Got any parachutes?" Ned asked curiously. "For safely floating down. Or to play with."
"No parachutes here.." Skye shook her head. "That's in our other set of air gear."
"Okay. Wait, don't you ever get dizzy while flying? Or not set your tails on fire?" Ned asked with slight concern.
"Alright pups, time to come in and eat." Ryder called, after poking his head out of the main Lookout doors.
"Okay, but nobody answered my question!" Ned retorted before heading inside.
"Don't worry,.. We'll be able to answer all questions later." The boy smiled. "I'm sure your curiosity can wait a little longer."
'But it's your safety for crying out loud! How have your tails not caught on fire!?' Ned screamed in his head, while giving a confused look.
"Okay," he said reluctantly.
"It's ok,.." Skye murmured with a smile. "Ryder takes good care of us.. We can talk more when we show you more of our gear." Then noticing Ryder and some of the pups walking away she shot him one more smile before hurrying after them.
Ned walked inside without another word as he went to go eat dinner.
XXXX
Warmth and comfort surrounded him.. yet on the fringes of it was a growing shell of something else which began to sink in.
A weight became a prick..
A prick became a pinch..
A pinch grew to a bite..
A bite grew to a stab..
Until his very skin was on fire!
A cry of both agony and frustration lunged him upright as he scratched and itched until a layer began to peel off him. But when this happened, he felt immediately exposed and flashed open his eyes to a daylight scene.
But when the bright light colored up and toned down all he saw was that broken down and ghostly play-yard, which he'd been expected to live in with other pups. Yet it was completely empty at this time, not a pup in sight.
"Hello?" He said aloud, as if it would bring out any hiding pups, like he'd recalled seeing before.
But then a painful twisting motion cracked his shoulder out of joint with seemingly no reason whatsoever; and he stumbled backwards. When he'd begun to lift his head, he realized the familiarity of the concrete beneath him and his eyes flashed upwards to the dimly lit Lookout tower. And a certain husky pup's face appeared, almost becoming the moon itself.
"What's wrong, Chase?" Snowflake asked in a convicting monotone voice. Maintaining a bit of an odd stare, rather stoic in nature.
"What?!" Chase gasped, unbelieving of this sight.
"Tell me what's wrong, Chase?" Snowflake continued further. As the husky's head became four different copies that came down from the sky to surround him, all spinning with a different question to repeat in their own conflicting way.
And the longer it went on, the more an arising feeling would grow in him. To the point of screaming..
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!…"
XXXX
"Noo! Snowflake, go away!" Chase mumbled to himself.
Snowflake kept sleeping until she thought someone said her name. The husky pup slowly woke up and looked over at Chase, who seemed to be stirring?
"No.. no.." Chase mumbled twisting his head this way and that.. then..
A vocal gasp set him upright and his fast panting breaths immediately started to slowly calm down again.
"Chase? What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Snowflake asked as she got up. She nuzzled him kindly, hoping to comfort him.
"*sniffle* I don't know what you're talking about.." Chase rasped, sliding away from her and hoping to conceal the paw he brought up to rub across his eye.
"You were saying no in your sleep, and it looked like you were upset about something. Please Chase, you wouldn't have a nightmare if something didn't bother you. I want to help you! Please," Snowflake replied sympathetically. She hoped Chase would tell her what he dreamt about.
"It's nothing,.." Chase deflected, keeping his face turned away from her and ears laid flat.
Snowflake's eyes narrowed.
"Your ears are flat, and you're not looking at me. What did I do wrong, Chase? I know you're upset about something!" Snowflake retorted sincerely.
"Nothing,.. I-.." Chase returned. "I'm just.. Tired.. Ok.. I just wanna go back to bed.. I thought I heard Cali running around or.. something."
Snowflake looked dumbfounded at him.
"Chase, I'm not stupid. Just be honest with me! I know you're bothered by something. I thought we were friends! Did you even like any of the activities we did today?!" Snowflake replied, getting teary eyed. It felt like Chase was hiding something.
"No.. I-.. I didn't have a problem with today, I just.." Chase trailed off in growing frustration. "I don't want to talk about it.. ok? Not with you.. not with anybody.. I just wanna go back to sleep."
Snowflake stood still, sad by his words. She had tried to stay patient and strong, but Chase had pushed her away. Her eyes got even more watery. And Chase beginning to nestle back down was the last straw.
"Fine! Go back to sleep for all I care! I WORKED FOR DAYS TO PLAN ALL THIS, BUT YOU JUST ENJOYED IT AND DON'T WANT TO OPEN UP! I tried doing things you would enjoy so you'd be more open and honest, BUT YOU JUST WANTED TO HAVE FUN AND AVOID ME! YOU EVEN TRIED SNEAKING OFF A FEW TIMES AND HINTING TO GOING BACK TO THE LOOKOUT, BUT I WANTED US TO BOND SO WE'D GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER MORE! I tried having bonding time with the other pups -yes, doing ghosts with Rubble wasn't the best idea- but that's WHY I BONDED WITH EVERYONE ELSE BEFORE YOU! I DIDN'T JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN; I WANTED TO GET TO KNOW YOU MORE AND HAVE YOU OPEN UP TO ME BUT ALL YOU WANTED WAS TO GO HOME! I GAVE YOU CHANCES TO GO BACK IF YOU WERE TIRED OR SOMETHING BUT YOU KEPT AGREEING TO HANG OUT! If I was too pushy, I'M SORRY! I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU WERE HAVING A GOOD TIME AND THAT YOU LIKED HANGING OUT. I JUST WANTED YOU TO BE HONEST AND HAPPY, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THIS BONDING TIME WAS A WASTE OF TIME! YOU'RE HAPPY BUT NOT HONEST! I JUST WANTED TO GET TO KNOW MY FRIENDS AND TEAMMATES BETTER SINCE IT'S BEEN SO LONG BUT I COULDN'T HELP YOU! YOU DON'T WANT TO BE HONEST, WHICH MEANS YOU ONLY ENJOYED OUR TIME FOR FUN! YOU DON'T EVEN TRUST ME ENOUGH TO BE HONEST! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS, CHASE! BUT NO MATTER WHAT I DID, YOU ONLY FAKED BEING HAPPY TO SATISFY ME! I FAILED! I FAILED! I FAAAAAIIILLLLLED! I'M SORRY, CHASE! IF YOU HATE ME, I'M SO SORRY! AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" exclaimed Snowflake as her voice broke and she cried. She laid down sobbing, feeling like all her hard work was for nothing. She was sad not just with Chase, but with herself.
"NOOOOO!" Chase abruptly cried, jumping out of his spot, turning around to face her. "Just DON'T CRRRYYYY! I didn't stay just to fake you out! I stayed,.. because I wanted to do something other than lay around all the time. I mean at first I didn't want to because of how early it was. But I wasn't "avoiding" you, I wasn't trying to spite you, I just don't wanna talk about stuff ok? Just don't.. cry.." and as his voice toned down the emphasis of 'don't' and the tenuous tone of 'cry' seemed all too delicate.
"I wasn't trying to pry. I just wanted you to be happy and get to know you more," Snowflake replied softly, her voice cracking when she said 'happy' and 'know you more'. Tears kept flowing down her face as she tried hard to not cry, but her heart hurt; both for herself and Chase.
"I don't- mind that, I just.." Chase stuttered. "I just don't wanna feel like I'm always in the spotlight.. Like I have to be- out in the open with everything.. I don't want all the attention to be on me." And when he dared himself to look at her, the big teary nature of her gaze made him instantly look away with a hard wince.
"I just want some space,.." he barely mumbled shakily. Then he laid back down again and she suddenly didn't feel like prying anymore.. for now.
Hoh, boy! What boatload of emotions this was! Holy cow, the dynamic between Snowflake and Chase here was tight! And how funny was it that they got Chase to sleep by brushing?! ;D
And how they argued between the two of them in the middle of the night and DIDN'T wake up Katie?!
All this to say we had quite a bit of fun writing this chapter, and as always we look forward to hearing your thoughts as we work towards the release of the next one! Thx!